Rahanuma Sarah, a newsroom editor at Bangladesh’s Gazi TV, a Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel, was found dead in a lake in Dhaka. Her body was found floating in Hatirjheel Lake in the country’s capital on Wednesday, police confirmed.
Officer-in-Charge Md Saiful Islam confirmed that a restaurant employee named Md Sagor spotted the body of a woman floating in the lake and took Sarah to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where doctors declared her dead upon arrival around 1:45 am.
Rahnuma’s elder sister, Rabita Alam, filed an unnatural death case at the Hatirjheel Police Station regarding the incident. The Officer-in-Charge Saiful Islam, said, ‘The cause of death will be known once the autopsy report and the viscera report are received. It will take at least 15 days to get the report. However, no signs of injury were found on the body.’
Rahnuma’s father claims that eyewitnesses said his daughter raised her hand and screamed for help before being rescued from Hatirjheel. To determine the cause of death of Rahnuma Sarah, the autopsy report will have to be awaited.
A colleague mentioned that after finishing her night shift, she did not return home. Her father, Bokhtiar Shikder, informed Deutsche Welle that she lived alone in a house in the Kalyanpur area. Around 1:30 AM, employees of a restaurant in the Hatirjheel area rescued her and first took her to the nearby Farazi Hospital. From there, she was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Her father, Bokhtiar Shikder, who is the president of the Noakhali Press Club, said, ‘Eyewitnesses told me that my daughter was raising her hand and pleading for help from the lake. Hearing her plea, two restaurant employees rescued her. I suspect that someone might have pushed her into the lake. My daughter did not know how to swim.’
Bokhtiar Shikder said, ‘We are not suspecting anyone yet regarding our daughter’s death. Let the police investigate. I want to know the real cause of her death.’
He added, ‘However, Sarah was dissatisfied with her workplace. She hadn’t received her salary for three months. Just a few days ago, she took some money from me. She was looking for another job to leave Gazi TV. She preferred to live alone, which is why she stayed by herself in the Kalyanpur house. She was unmarried. Although someone claimed to be her husband, we have no knowledge of that.’
Rahnuma had worked at Gazi TV for five to six years. She was graduated from International Relations department at Dhaka University. Rahnuma had two siblings—an older sister and a younger brother. Her elder sister is a teacher at a public university.
Sub-Inspector Masud Hossain of the Hatirjheel Police Station was present with the magistrate during the inquest of the body. He said, ‘We found her body at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. The inquest found no visible injuries on her body. When she was pulled from the lake, she had a bag on her shoulder and an ID card around her neck. Her mobile phone was in her bag, and because it was inside the bag, it wasn’t damaged. Those who rescued her used the phone to contact her family and colleagues.’ He also noted that she was wearing a salwar kameez.
Rahnuma’s colleague, Jannatul Ferdousi, rushed to the hospital upon hearing the news of Rahnuma’s death. She also visited the scene of the incident. Jannatul mentioned, ‘She was rescued from the part of Hatirjheel near the Sod Restaurant, adjacent to the Rampura Bridge. An eyewitness told me that she was sitting under a tree there shortly before 1:30 AM. When asked why she was sitting there, she identified herself and said she was waiting for a car from her office to pick her up. She had left the office before midnight after finishing her night shift.’
She added, ‘Rahnuma was usually cheerful and would chat with us. However, she had been saying for the past few days that she wasn’t feeling well.’
After the autopsy, Rahnuma’s body was handed over to her family on Wednesday afternoon. The family announced that Rahnuma would be buried in her hometown in Noakhali.
The Bangladesh Women rights organization Mahila Parishad expressed deep concern over the death of journalist Rahnuma. In a statement, they said, “We observe that, amid the country’s unstable situation, women and girls across various parts of the country are becoming victims of violence. Working women face threats to their freedom of movement and security in the workplace.”
The Mahila Parishad called for a thorough investigation into the mysterious death of female journalist Rahnuma Sarah and for swift legal action against those involved.
After the journalist’s death rumors spread in Social media
After the journalist Rehnuma Sarah’s death ousted Bangladesh ex-PM Sheikh Hasina’s US-based son, Sajeeb Wazed spread propaganda through social media. Mr. Wazed demanded in an X post that it was a brutal attack on the freedom of expression.
After Sheikh Hasina’s resign Sajeeb Wazed spread propaganda and tried to attention the world that minorities are attacked in Bangladesh. Although the scenario is different. Following Sajeeb Wazed more people spread propaganda in social media on the issue of the journalist’s death.
Some others also claimed in the X post that it was a suicide case though Inspector Bachchu Mia, in charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s (DMCH) police said the body was sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy. Whether it is suicide or murder will be known only after getting the autopsy report, he added.
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